


The Love a Dog Can Bring

by satinandsteel



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 08:31:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5368559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satinandsteel/pseuds/satinandsteel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So Mark and Youngjae really REALLY don't get along... Except then they somehow end up being the co-parents of a poor little puppy. <br/>(anon request!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Love a Dog Can Bring

            It was the third time this week that Youngjae’s neighbor was throwing a party, and Youngjae just – couldn’t – handle it. He’d only been there about two months, but it seemed like ever since that blonde had waltzed into the apartment next door, his main goal had been to make Youngjae’s life miserable. Youngjae was used to the boring silence of his elder neighbors, he actually liked it. Silence meant he had nothing to distract him from his music, and the tenants found him respectful enough to not mind him composing into the wee hours of the morning. To be honest, he was surprised they Mark hadn’t been thrown out at this point. After all, most of the other tenants in the apartment complex were thirty-five or older, leading their lives in a boring, routine manner, the only disruption in their silence perhaps being Youngjae’s music echoing through the complex, and even that was relatively calm.

            But Mark… Mark was a windstorm destroying their… peaceful forest? God, Youngjae couldn’t even string together a lyrical metaphor to describe it because all he could focus on in that moment was the bass that was making his floor shake and making it impossible for him to concentrate on the gentle melodies he had in his notebook. Closing the book carefully, he sighed, pulling off his headphones and silently cursing the blonde’s affinity for socializing. Heading over to the wall, he banged on it loudly, refusing to give Mark the pleasure of seeing his anger. “Turn it _down_!” Youngjae yelled, hoping that maybe the threat would invoke the proper response. He had to try very hard not to scream when all that happened was that the music was turned up louder.

*

            “What a party…” Mark mumbled to himself as he stepped around his apartment late the next morning, chuckling to himself at the mess the boys had left for him. Not that he cared all that much – the good times they’d had then were worth the disaster left behind the next morning. After slowly collecting the garbage strewn across his floor, he dragged the plastic bag out behind him, planning on dumping it in the communal garbage can. He paused once he stepped out the door though, chuckling to himself as he pulled a note off the front door.

            _The noise you are making is disturbing the peace of your neighbors, and making this living space rather uncomfortable. Maybe you could take someone besides yourself into consideration for a second?_ The note didn’t have a signature, but Mark had a feeling he knew exactly who it belonged to. After all, Youngjae had tried at least twice to get him thrown out of the apartment building, but the landlady was unfortunately very easy to flatter, and with a couple compliments and a well-placed wink, Mark would find himself back in her good graces. Which drove Youngjae up the wall, and only made his frustration escalate every time Mark held a party, and so the cycle would begin again. It was unfortunate the kid was so uptight – if he weren’t so grumpy, he might have even been kind of cute. But he’d become adjusted to the ‘life of the elderly’ as JB and Jackson had titled it, making it impossible for the two to ever get along. At least, that’s what he’d thought.

*

            Mark was coming home from the gym a little later than he’d planned – Jackson had insisted that they spar tonight, even though Mark knew it probably wouldn’t end well for either of them. He’d been right, of course – the two of them were now coated with dark marks (and not the fun kind – the kind that left you sore and cursing at 2 AM when you couldn’t find a comfortable position in which to fall asleep). Sighing, he readjusted his bag on his shoulder once more, slowly walking up the stairs from the subway, knowing that he just one block left until he was at the complex and he could just crash. Except he didn’t make it through the front door – instead, he found himself looking down an empty alleyway and watching as they crouched down, making beckoning gestures at something he couldn’t see. “Come on – come here!”

            He knew that voice. “Youngjae?” Mark hissed, slowly walking down the alleyway, glancing behind him briefly before continuing forward. “What the hell are you doing?”

            Youngjae’s head whipped around, and he groaned, turning his attention away from the blonde, gesturing with his hands. “Go away, Mark,” the younger man answered through gritted teeth (he was practically certain the blonde would scare it away what with his… okay, he had no reasoning for it, but that didn’t matter). “I can handle this.”

            “Can handle wha…” The blonde failed to finish his sentence, staring at the small dog that Youngjae was trying to call to him. Its white fur was matted with dirt, and it whimpered anytime the dark-haired boy tried to approach it. “… What’s that?” Mark murmured, his voice falling into a soft tone that Youngjae could never have even imagined escaping the boy’s lips.

            “What does it look like, dumbass,” Youngjae hissed, less concerned with Mark’s questioning and more concerned with getting the poor puppy out of the cold.

            “Wait – what do you plan on doing with it?” Mark asked curiously, crouching down alongside Youngjae, raising an eyebrow.

            “Bringing it inside, obviously,” Youngjae retorted, turning his head so he could glare at the dumbass beside him.

            “Yeah… Have you met the landlady before?” Mark asked, chuckling lightly. Youngjae’s scowl turned into a frown at that, reflecting on the blonde’s words. Yes, she might have been willing to let Mark’s constant partying go, but if there was one thing she could not handle, it was pets. She’d made it clear to any potential tenant that if they so much as had a pet fish inside the complex, they would be made to go.

            “So what do you want to do?” Youngjae asked harshly, looking back at the dog. “Leave it out here to freeze? It already looks underfed and –“

            “Of course not.” Mark paused, thinking about it for a moment, then sighed. “Just – grab the dog, and wait five minutes. Be discreet and be quiet.” Youngjae made a face, about to start arguing with Mark, but the glare he received in return was surprisingly enough to silence him, and he just slowly nodded, watching as Mark carefully stood up straight, grimacing, then heading for the building.

            “God knows what he’s up to…” Youngjae mumbled to the dog, slowly reaching out and placing his hands on the dog. The dog began to whine, then when it felt Youngjae’s hand working its way through its fur slowly, it began to relax, going quiet and closing its eyes. “Good… Good girl.” Glancing down at his phone, Youngjae swallowed hard, knowing that five minutes was about to pass. “I need you to be quiet – okay girl?” Youngjae muttered, hoping the dog would somehow understand as he carefully picked her up, tucking her into his jacket. Luckily for him, the dog was now peaceful that it was feeling some kind of warmth, already half-asleep.

            Walking up the steps slowly, he pushed open the front door, glancing around for any signs of the landlady. He couldn’t help but grin to himself as he saw Mark leaning against the doorframe of her office, jacket now stretched out on top of his gym bag, showing off his toned arms. “Looks like his flirting skills actually do come in handy…” Youngjae murmured, grinning down at the puppy before hurrying up the stairs, not wanting to get caught.

*

            “Hey – hey, come on!” Youngjae laughed as the puppy struggled away from the water, carefully placing her into the tub. “It’s just a bath, I promise, it won’t hurt you,” he murmured, running his fingers through her fur once more. He was amazed that someone could abandon this beautiful puppy, and there was absolutely no way he would do the same. Even if he wasn’t allowed to have pets, he’d work out a way to keep her here.

            A knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts, and he cursed, quickly reaching down for the puppy. “Youngjae – it’s Mark.” Youngjae relaxed – though only a tiny bit – and picked up the puppy anyways, heading for the front door. Unlocking it carefully, he opened it a crack, peeking out at the blonde.

            “… Can I help you?” Rolling his eyes, Mark let out a noise of frustration, pushing the door wide open and stepping in.         

            “You owe me one,” he muttered as he closed the door behind him, though his frown quickly disappeared as he caught sight of the puppy. “Hey girl…” he murmured, reaching out. Youngjae quickly stepped back, both boys making a face at the movement. “What?”

            “What are you doing here?” Youngjae asked, keeping the puppy away from Mark.

            “I came to check on our puppy.”

            “ _Our_ puppy?!” Youngjae spluttered, eyes wide at the meaning behind Mark’s words.

            “Well – yeah, of course. I helped you sneak her in – therefore, she’s _our_ puppy. Right?” Youngjae nodded slowly in defeat, not entirely sure how he could defeat that logic.

*

            “I’m really sorry guys, but I just can’t make it happen this week.” Mark pulled the phone away from his ear, grimacing at Jackson and JB’s combined yells and threats. Chuckling to himself, the eldest counted to three, then hung up the phone, deciding he wanted to keep his sanity. He had a feeling the boys would be disappointed when he informed them that there would be no party this week, but that’s because tonight he had other plans in mind.

            Ever since that puppy (now named Coco, thanks to Mark – Youngjae had grown to like the name) had shown up in their lives, Mark and Youngjae’s worlds had kind of… Collided. Mark refused to be kept out of the life of this puppy, and though Youngjae wasn’t sure he fully trusted Mark to take care of the dog, he also couldn’t deny him the request of helping. He had been the reason Youngjae had even been able to get the puppy into the complex.

            So Mark and Youngjae had learned to compromise – Mark would spend his days with the puppy at his place while Youngjae went to work, and Youngjae would take Coco in the evenings (walks were split between the two, along with who would provide the distraction so they could get the dog out). “How are you even paying for this place?” Youngjae had finally worked up the courage to ask one evening as they traded the puppy off, inviting Mark into his place for a bit (he was just being friendly, and the guy had been at least half-decent in the past couple weeks).

            “My parents are paying for the place,” Mark admitted with embarrassment, shrugging slightly. “I’m studying, and they want me to focus on that.”

            “Right… Cause you’re focusing so hard on studying,” Youngjae answered sarcastically, earning a scowl from Mark.

            “Why aren’t you studying anyways?” Mark retorted in return, and Youngjae’s cheeks flushed bright red, and it was his turn to stammer.

            “I… I want to be a composer,” he admitted, ignoring the way Mark’s eyes went wide.

            “You can write music?” When Youngjae didn’t answer, Mark continued: “That’s awesome! I mean – I’m not very good at singing or anything, but I can appreciate a good tune when I hear it.” (Of course, Youngjae didn’t laugh at that. He didn’t find Mark funny. Or cute. Not at all.)

            These nightly conversations slowly became a regular occurrence, and Mark found himself hanging out at Youngjae’s nearly every night. But not tonight – tonight was gonna be different.

            _Hey – do you mind stopping by my place to come pick up Coco? –M_ Youngjae frowned at the request – was it really that difficult for Mark to make the walk over to his apartment? Hopefully he wasn’t hungover again or something… Then again, in the past couple weeks the boy had been relatively alcohol free – and there’d been a lot less partying going on at the complex now that he thought about it… He shook off the thoughts and responded with a simple ‘yes’, already climbing up the stairs from the subway. _Awesome – door’s unlocked._

            “Hey, Mark – is everything…” Youngjae trailed off, eyes wide as he entered into the room. Candles were lined along the side of the room, and Mark stood there with his hands behind his back, watching Youngjae nervously. “What – what are you – what is this?” Coco suddenly appeared, a tiny bow tie around her neck as she held a rose in her hands, running straight to Youngjae. The younger boy let out a breathless laugh, crouching down and taking the flower, standing up straight as Mark approached him.

            “Look, I… I know I’ve been a shitty neighbour, and not the best person, but…” Mark wasn’t used to this – he liked always having the right response, a witty comeback, but here… He had nothing. But Youngjae was able to fill in where Mark couldn’t, reaching out for the blonde’s hand and pulling him closer.

            “You know… If this is your way of trying to make sure I never take Coco away, you could have just asked,” the younger teased, giggling as Mark glared at him.

            “I’m trying to be romantic, okay?” Mark muttered grumpily, though his eyes lit up as Youngjae leaned in, kissing his cheek.

            “I know. Thanks, Mark.” The blonde grinned, squeezing Youngjae’s hand tightly and glancing down at Coco.

            “And thank you, Coco.”


End file.
